Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, national and international news services and the nation’s press.

POP/ROCK

Small Spices: Thousands of scantily clad preteen Spice Girl wannabes lined a Manhattan block Tuesday to try out for upcoming ads hawking a line of dolls and other Spice-related merchandise. Producers were looking for one set of girls, ages 5 to 12, to portray the foursome. The competition in the line of platform shoes, rub-off tattoos, bare midriffs and phony navel rings was fierce, with mothers coaching daughters and girls sizing up their opposition while rehearsing dance steps. The fathers, one report said, simply eyed their watches and the line ahead.

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Arcadia Replaces Ash Grove: More than a year after the Ash Grove nightclub on the Santa Monica Pier closed its doors after failing to make its rent payments, a new club is set to take over the site. A group of investors, headed by Unity Entertainment CEO Robert Tauro, has leased the space and will open an upscale club and restaurant called Arcadia. Plans call for the club to feature music, comedy and children’s theater. The first performance, on Nov. 5, is a benefit featuring guitarist Craig Chaquico.

TELEVISION

Broken Promise?: Geraldo Rivera should put his money where his mouth is and make good on a $10,000 promise, says a New York attorney who contends that the CNBC host reneged on an on-air pledge to pay that amount to anyone who could document a case of criminal prosecution for lying about sex. In a lawsuit charging fraud and breach of contract, criminal defense lawyer Marc Bogatin claims that Rivera issued the challenge on a Sept. 24 “Rivera Live” show devoted to the Clinton investigation. Bogatin says that he sent five such cases to Rivera, but received no response despite several letters and phone calls, including a threat to sue if he got no reply. A spokesman for CNBC and Rivera declined to comment, saying that neither had seen the suit.

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Waxing Dietary: Proclaiming that she eats “whatever I want, whenever I want,” including three meals a day, “Ally McBeal” star Calista Flockhart addresses persistent rumors about the cause of her thinness in the Nov. 9 People magazine. When asked point-blank if she is an anorexic, People said Flockhart responded: “I guess I don’t know the exact definition of anorexia. . . . Am I anorexic? I guess my answer would have to be no.”

QUICK TAKES

Just because HBO’s “Larry Sanders Show” has finished its original run, don’t expect to see repeats airing elsewhere. HBO said Wednesday that it has retained exclusive rights to the critically praised series’ 90 episodes into the year 2002. . . . Rapper Jay-Z and hip-hop diva Lauryn Hill remain king and queen of the pop album chart, holding on to the No. 1 and No. 2 positions, respectively. According to SoundScan, Jay-Z sold about 185,000 copies last week of “Vol. 2 . . . Hard Knock Life,” while Hill’s “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” sold roughly 126,000 copies. . . . Sophia Loren told a Rome newspaper Wednesday that she is taking brisk walks and “ruthlessly” trying to avoid stress as she deals with a recently diagnosed heart condition. The actress, 64, was diagnosed in August with an irregular heartbeat. Loren said she will return to the U.S. in January to promote a new book.